Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1887-06-29
CLEVELAND AND THE G. A. R.
The Position Of the Iowa Grand
Army Boys-Gen. Tuttle
MiErepresented.
from the CHICAGO Tribune,

taRen ID oL. Louis Dy Zen. lutte and the
reasons given by tho Grand Army posts in
Iowa for their Endorsement Of the Gener-
AIS opposition TO a review Of the G. A. r.
parade by Cley land. Tu,tle is represented
as swashbuckler who has sought to at
tract attention to himself by proposing
that Q old sold ers should openly insult
Cleveland If the latter should attend the
encampment. These are gross falsehoods.
Gen. Tuttle--"Old Tut" as the Iowa
soldiers call him-is known to thou
sands OF veterans throughout the
West as modest, brave, cool
headed, plainspoken man-one who would
not under any circumstances propose such
. thing as offering an insult 10 the Presi-
dent. Tdttie went 10 st. Louis IN his ca
pacity as Division Commander of the Grand
Army for Iowa, and to his astonishment
found that the st. Louis Citizens Commit
| tee had made preparations to use the en-
canpment TO boom Cleveland and give
him starter" for the Presidential cam
paign next year. 1t had actually been ar
ranged to have the Cleveland Democratic
clubs of st. Louis parade in the same pro-
cession with the Grand Army and all pass
in review together before Cleveland! Tut
| tie at once called attention to the rule of the
Grand Army forbidding outsiders, and espe-
cialiy those prominent in politics, to partic-
ipate III its proceedings-the rule which was
applied strictly in the case Of Mr.. Blaine
ut the Portland encampment two years ago.
He added that the feeling among the
veterans toward Grover was very bitter.
and If they found themselves dragged into
q partisan demonstration in honor of
leseland, he feared some hothead might
openly insult the President. Warned in
time, however, he and thousands of others
would lenlain at home, and if the Citizens
Committee persisted in its partisan course,
he predicted the demonstration would
prove a failure.
Nor is it true that Gen. Tuttle said his
feeling or that of the veterans in general
against Cleveland was based on the veto of
he dependent pension bill. Gen. Tut
tie said, distinctly 1T was not the veto.
but the language and the manner, that had
aroused so much indignation among the
soldiers. The veterans could allow
for differences Of opinion, but
found no excuse for the elephantine
wit and contemptuous sneers of the veto
message, whi b seemed to regard all old
soldiers as mend cants appearing at the
back door. The members of the Grand
President to disapproye legislation,
whether it affected pensions or other mat
ters. and no special feeling could be
aroused by the expression of antagonistic
views in decent and respectful language.
Moreover, the veterans differed among
themselves in regard 10 the propriety of
the pension bills vetoed last winter, but
they are substantially unanimous in con-
dempation OF Cleveland. The sneers, and
insults scattered through 119 vetoes of
private pension bills and piled on top Of a
two-years record Of preferring the gray to
the blue uc-these we're the straws that tested
patience and endurance to the limit.
The manner Of General Tuttle's recep-
ton on his return from st. Louis to Des
Moines makes the matter Of Grand Army
feeling against Cleveland perfectly plain.
General Given, acting as spokesman fol-
the Grand Army posts Of Des Moines, said
ip his address TO General Tuttle at the re-
c6ption:
LAS citizen soldiers we realize the right
TO differ and We do differ, save upon the
issues Of the war and those that imperil the
standing and credit Of the Union soldiers.
We have within our organization men oil
all political faiths, and its best energies
have always been devoted to the promo
ton of those primal virtues which are
the guiding stars Of the order. Willy poll
ticians have sought to capture the organ
ization, but We have rersistently stood
aloof from party politics. 70 that end
We approve with one voice your action
regarding the invitation to Grover Cleve-
land. The invitation OF any outside man
would have been forbidden, but especially
of one who had endeavored TO depreciate
the high standing and integrity Of the
Union soldiers. voice the sentiment OF
every man in your post in ei,in, sanction
to your action in tuis IN ter. We may diff
fer as TO the right or wrong OF the veto; il
is not that TO which we object. but the
manner in which it Was done. Ii was to
tho cold-hea,ted brutality Of the man who
| could not discriminate between loyalty and
disloyalty, nor Letween the traitors and the
brave boys who stood belt of blue and a
wall of safety around our homes. I need
not occupy your time further. The q. A.
r. of Des Moines and of Iowa indorse
every word you said and your every act in
this regard"
Here, then, is the reason for Tuttle &
course, and Its approval by the Iowa veter-
ans clearly stated. Even if they had not
differed among themselves regarding PEN
sion bills they could have allowed for any
antagonistic opinion stated in respectful
language; but they cannot and will not ex-
cuse Cleveland's persistent and willful re-
fusal to discriminate between loyalty and
disloyalty, between the traitors and the
brave boys who stood a belt of blue" in de-
fense of the Nation. Thousands upon
thousands OF loyal veterans, serving the
country rs faithfully in civil as they did in
military posts, have been designated
offensive partisans" and summarily re-
moved from Office by Grover Glove.
land solely because they were loyalists
and Union men, while unrepent.
ant rebels by the hundred and
thousand have been elevated to
honors and dignities. II is, however,
not strictly correct to say Clevel'nd "can-
not discriminate between loyalty and dis
loyalty" He has Disseminated in most
odious, indcfensible manner, and in all
things has preferred the rebel 10 the Union
soldier. Nothing appears to delight him
more than to chop off the heads OF veter-
ans who were MANNED and crippled in the
Union service; they have gone down before
bin like wheat before the scythe. Mr..
Cleveland, the old soldiers claim, has ex-
hausted the powers and patronage Of his
Office to elevate the gray above the blue; he
has b mt every effort, they affirm, 10 punish
all veterans found in Office who dare to
cherish the principles for which they
fought on the field; and they charge that
he las appointed unpardoned rebels to the
hi hest honors Of the Government, while
coarsely deriding the sacrifices of Union
men and glorifying Calhounism with en-
thusiasm. Is it TO be wondered that loyal
yakar vafpcn T., so;x, n ,or,Ja his